Testing Circular Economy solutions for the green transition of the Mediterranean area

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B EURO Mediterranean (EURO MED)

Date of latest update: 2025-05-27

Description

Description (EN):

CircleMED aims to convert the Euro-Med area into circular economy based territories, accelerating the diffusion of circular and climate-neutral practices and the green transition of the local civil, industrial and institutional systems. It points at reconciling our economies and human activities with the planetary boundaries. CircleMED’s integrated and systemic approach targets all the four helix stakeholders to promote the transition process to circular and sustainable production and consumption models, stimulating awareness and testing innovative circular solutions working closely with citizens, policy makers, business support organisations, academia, research entities and additional stakeholders, sharing knowledge and responsibilities for the green transition. Key elements CircleMED stress on are those considered fundamental for sustainable development: economic prosperity, environmental protection and social equity, balancing them to benefit current and future generations, targeting the three dimensions of citizens, SMEs and policy makers. CircleMED could be considered an evolutionary innovative project, testing solutions that already exist, but that have never been used together. It focuses on promoting circularity and testing resource efficiency particularly through an innovative circular assessment tool for SMEs, the creation of a transnational network of territorial circular hubs and the elaboration of plans for transferability of results in the whole Mediterranean area. The project aims at redesign, repair, reuse and recycle as driving scheme leading citizens, institutions and companies’ choices to a resource-efficient and competitive economy, further developing and scaling up circular approaches, methodologies and strategies easily adaptable to any kind of territory.

Description (FR):

CircleMED vise à faire évoluer la zone Med en territoires basés sur l'économie circulaire, accélérant la diffusion de pratiques circulaires et climatiquement neutres et la transition verte des systèmes civils, industriels et institutionnels locaux. Il s'agit de réconcilier nos économies et nos activités humaines avec les limites planétaires. L'approche intégrée et systémique de CircleMED cible la quadruple hélix pour promouvoir la transition vers des modèles de production et de consommation circulaires et durables, travaillant en étroite collaboration avec citoyens, décideurs politiques, organisations professionnelles, universités, entités d’éducation et recherche et d'autres parties prenantes afin de sensibiliser et de tester des solutions innovantes, partageant les connaissances et les responsabilités pour la transition verte. Les éléments clés sur lesquels mettre l'accent sont ceux qui garantissent le développement durable : prospérité économique, protection de l'environnement et équité sociale, en les équilibrant au profit des générations actuelles et futures, s’adressant aux citoyens, aux PME et aux décideurs politiques. CircleMED peut être considéré un projet d’innovation évolutive, qui teste des solutions qui existent déjà, mais qui n'ont jamais été utilisées cumulativement. Il promeut la circularité et teste l'efficacité des ressources, particulièrement grâce à un nouvel outil d'évaluation de la circularité destiné aux PME, à la création d'un réseau transnational de pôles circulaires territoriaux et à l'élaboration de plans de transférabilité des résultats dans la zone MED. Le projet vise à remodeler, réparer, réutiliser et recycler pour développer un schéma directeur conduisant les choix des citoyens, des institutions et des entreprises vers une économie efficace en termes de ressources et compétitive, en développant et en mettant à l'échelle des approches, des méthodologies et des stratégies circulaires facilement adaptables à tout type de territoire.

Actual Achievements (EN):

The kick-off meeting of CircleMED took place online on 5 February 2024. On this occasion the Steering Committee was formally established, administrative, financial management procedures and issues were reminded and the LP presented an overview of the project, highlighting the main activities, deliverables, outputs and upcoming steps. In addition, a Interreg Euro-MED Innovative Sustainable Economy (ISE) Mission representative presented to the partnership the mission and activities of the programme, the Thematic Projects and the Mission Governance Projects. In P1, the CircleMED partnership worked on refining the project’s internal organisation and management, as well as on developing initial activities for all WPs. In terms of communication, the CircleMED project adopted the official Interreg Euro-MED materials and logos, created its own brand identity, finalised its official website on the Interreg-EuroMED platform, and opened social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. WP1 aims to undergo analysis and develop tools to promote behavioural change and influence citizens' attitudes towards circular practices. During P1, the partnership worked on analysing the components of circular dynamics, identifying territories and circular domains. The document 'Guidelines for case study identification and initial description', elaborated by the Activity 1.1 leader, provided the framework for identifying the boundaries and components of the local circular dynamics under study. The guidelines included: - Objectives and main tasks of Activity 1.1 in WP1 - Identification of the area of interest - Identification of the circular economy processes - Circularity matrix - Reporting template Each partner began to scan and identify the areas of interest within which circularity can and should be analysed, considering administrative relevance, citizen representativeness, and geographical scope (urban vs. rural). At the same time, they identified possible areas of circularity to be considered (e.g. organic waste, water, textile, technologic waste, packaging). Following the analysis, each partner submitted a short report describing: 1) the identification and initial description of the area of interest and 2) the definition of the relevant circular process matrix, identifying the relevant circular domains. The reports should be presented during the consortium meeting in Turin in July 2024. During the analysis, the partners were asked to keep in mind and start “mapping” the stakeholders, which will be integral part of the Activity 1.2. The mission of WP2 is to enhance circular innovative business solutions for the optimisation and implementation of circular economy approaches in local enterprises, enabling circular and climate-neutral practices for the transition. CircleMED intends to create a tool that facilitates the matching between SME/enterprise development needs and market requirements while offering an opportunity to test the validity and effectiveness of circular solutions. The first step of such a project being the analysis of currently available circularity tools. The partnership identified and selected Decision Support Tools (DTS): interactive software-based tools that support managers in making decisions at both the strategic and operational level, a structured approach designed to decision-making among stakeholders. The partners worked on a comprehensive list of DTS available (mainly, but not necessarily only in the field of circular economy). The tools proposed by each partner, will be analyzed and categorized by the entire partnership, according to specific parameters. In vision of this task, the LP proposed an initial list of parameters for DTS analysis: "usability" (including “effectiveness”) indicators and "circular economy" criteria, to use as guidelines to analyse and categorise the DTS. The partners provided feedback on the preparatory document, to finalise the framework for the tools assessment, which will be carried out by all partners in P2. The leader of the WP3 Activity 3.1 started working on carbon footprint reporting, by exploring the Interreg Euro-MED Carbon Footprint Calculator platform. With regards to Activity 3.2, the partnership actively participated in the Thematic Community of the ISE Mission “Strengthening an innovative sustainable economy”, following the online communication and the Basecamp environment, and attending both the "2nd Innovation Camp of the ISE Mission", in Barcelona, on 28-29 May 2024, where the partners were actively involved in the activities of the event, sharing, exchanging and developing synergies between projects and stakeholders, and raising awareness of CircleMED, and the "Shaping Sustainable Innovation in the Mediterranean" event in Marseille, on 18-19 June 2024.

Project outputs: Guidelines for local public support and citizens’ participation(EN)
n/a(FR)
Circular assessment tool for enterprises(EN)
n/a(FR)
Network of Hubs(EN)
n/a(FR)
Website: https://interreg-euro-med.eu/en/

Thematic information

Green technologies SME and entrepreneurship Climate change and biodiversity

Priority: (VI-B_EM_2) Greener MED

Priority specific objective: RSO2.6. Promoting the transition to a circular and resource efficient economy

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 071 Promoting the use of recycled materials as raw materials

Partners (7)

Lead Partner: Università di Torino

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999861936

Partner’s ID if not PIC: IT02099550010 | IT120000037 | - (FR), - (EN)

Department: Department of ManagementUniversity of Turin - Department of Management

Address: via Verdi , 10124 Turin, Italy

Department address: corso Unione Sovietica, 10134 Turin, Italy

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.unito.it/

Total budget: EUR 388 420.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 310 736.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 77 684.00

Contractors:

Name: CUOCHIVOLANTI S.r.l.
VAT registration or tax identification number: IT09948050019
Name: VANCLIFF S.r.l.
VAT registration or tax identification number: IT11084260014
Name: Chiara Margini
VAT registration or tax identification number: IT07017320016

Εθνικό Κέντρο Έρευνας και Τεχνολογικής Ανάπτυξης (Πτολεμαΐδα)

Name: Εθνικό Κέντρο Έρευνας και Τεχνολογικής Ανάπτυξης (Πτολεμαΐδα)

Department: Chemical Process and Energy resources Institute (CPERI)

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 998802502

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 099785242 | EL120000031 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: 4th km of Ptolemais-Mpodosakeio Hos. National Road, 50200 Ptolemais, Greece

Department address: 4th km of Ptolemais-Mpodosakeio Hos. National Road, 50200 Ptolemais, Greece

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.certh.gr

Total budget: EUR 296 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 236 960.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 59 240.00

Българска Асоциация По Рециклиране

Name: Българска Асоциация По Рециклиране

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 917654048

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 121870183 | BG220000007 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: A. Stamboliyski Blvd., 1309 Sofia, Bulgaria

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: http://www.bar-bg.org

Total budget: EUR 209 375.10

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 167 500.08

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 41 875.02

Contractors:

Name: SITY TOUR ltd
VAT registration or tax identification number: 130923231
Name: INFOCOMPUTERS 21
VAT registration or tax identification number: 206367126

Chambre de commerce et d’industrie du Var

Name: Chambre de commerce et d’industrie du Var

Department: European and National Grants Department

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 901182575

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FR93188300016 | FR120000015 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, 83097 Toulon, France

Department address: Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc, 83097 Toulon, France

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Business support organisation

Website: http://www.var.cci.fr

Total budget: EUR 288 600.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 230 880.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 57 720.00

Contractors:

Name: DELOITTE ET ASSOCIES
VAT registration or tax identification number: FR02572028041

Sarajevska regionalna razvojna agencija SERDA

Name: Sarajevska regionalna razvojna agencija SERDA

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 940649741

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 200816600000 | BA120000007 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: Kolodvorska, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Sectoral agency

Website: http://www.serda.ba

Total budget: EUR 165 887.20

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 132 709.76

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 33 177.44

Contractors:

Name: KAMER COMMERCE D.O.O.
VAT registration or tax identification number: 200816600000

Fundación corporación tecnológica de Andalucia

Name: Fundación corporación tecnológica de Andalucia

Department: Business Development area

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 952902587

Partner’s ID if not PIC: G91452953 | ES2G0000021 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: Albert Einstein, 41092 Seville, Spain

Department address: Albert Einstein, 41092 Seville, Spain

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Business support organisation

Website: http://www.corporaciontecnologica.com/en

Total budget: EUR 349 000.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 279 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 69 800.00

Contractors:

Name: HOTEL INGLATERRA
VAT registration or tax identification number: A41003849
Name: EL PASAJE
VAT registration or tax identification number: B90106774
Name: GESTIÓN 5
VAT registration or tax identification number: 41620873

Αναπτυξιακή Εταιρεία Επαρχιών Λάρνακας-Αμμοχώστου

Name: Αναπτυξιακή Εταιρεία Επαρχιών Λάρνακας-Αμμοχώστου

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 954401140

Partner’s ID if not PIC: CY10142855J | CY300000001 | - (FR), - (EN)

Address: Agiou Lazarou, 7040 Voroklini Larnaca, Cyprus

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: http://www.anetel.com

Total budget: EUR 157 047.50

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 125 638.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 31 409.50

Contractors:

Name: HMI and Partners Ltd
VAT registration or tax identification number: CY10197348U

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Testing Circular Economy solutions for the green transition of the Mediterranean area

Project acronym: CircleMED

Project ID: Euro-MED0200165

Project start date: 2024-01-01

Project end date: 2026-09-30

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

Interreg MED 2014-2020 project “finMED” (EN), n/a (FR) | Interreg MED project “finMED” (UniTo, ANETEL, SERDA, CTA and CERTH have been partners of) has performed an analysis of existing instruments and mechanisms for financing innovation in green sectors and has developed a support service to be provided by clusters and business support organizations (in green technologies) to their members in order to improve their access to finance for innovation. All this knowledge generated will be a fundamental mechanism for the promotion of strategic planning as a tool for companies to adapt to current socio-economic threats. The tool is configured through a series of supporting IT tools, including a specific module based on the sustainability of enterprises which allows the tool to be deployed in the different strategic sectors of the territory. This result of finMED project (the tool is still working under the supervision of UNITO) will be capitalized as a working base for the activities of WP2, and partially for the development of the Network of Hubs in WP3. (EN), n/a (FR), Interreg MED 2014-2020 project “BlueFasma” (EN), n/a (FR) | BLUEfasma created an online platform that systematizes best practices, tools, solutions and methods in fishing/aquaculture. In particular, it created a tool for measuring SMEs readiness and willingness to invest in Circular economy and act as a decision support tool. The self-assessment tool asks for the SMEs/enterprises’ answers on the online survey provided through the tool. The tool is a circularity self-diagnosis tool; it is simple and user-friendly. Its main objective is to tackle the lack of data on the circularity level of Mediterranean SMEs/enterprises related to fishing/aquaculture and their willingness to invest in blue CE; and assist the SMEs/enterprises to review their current business practices, compare them with the provisions of the CE and identify areas where new/improved solutions may be developed and introduced. Based on the users’ answers the tool automatically generates the corresponding results and guidelines/recommendations towards Circular Economy
CircleMED project, aiming at setting up a tool that should facilitate the matching between SMEs/companies development needs and market requirements, while also being an opportunity to test the validity and effectiveness of circular solutions (act.2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 and output 2), analyse the already existing assessment tools for enterprises (especially SMEs) able to understand and measure the environmental, social and economic profile of the circular business solutions proposed. So, the tool already developed by MED projects “BLUEfasma” will be one of these tools to be tested and, where possible, improved, basing of various criteria, priority, contents form and arrangement (including method of delivery) for the provision of the services.
(EN), n/a (FR), n/a (FR), Interreg MED 2014-2020 project “INCIRCLE” (EN) | INCIRCLE project created the Circular Tourism Tools, a management and monitoring tools to assess tourism impact both on a destination level (Circular Tourism Destination Tool) and on a tourism industry level (Circular Tourism Industry Tool) from a circular economy (CE) perspective.The Framework on which these instruments have been designed is based on four capitals (natural, social, built, human) and on three levels (tourism destination level, tourism industry level and the networking level composed by the interactions that nourish sustainability and circularity between a tourism destination and a tourism industry). The framework also includes five principles of the Circular Economy model (Reduce, Regenerate, Rethink, Innovate, Re-value) that represent at the same time rules on which choices – at every level - should be taken and objectives that a sustainable and circular tourism should achieve. These objectives guide the transition toward a circular tourism model, and, in this perspective, they give a strong support in terms of strategic management of tourism destination and tourism industries.
In this case too CircleMED project, in its activity 2.1 and for the set-up of the output 2, analyses the Circular Tourism Tools of INCIRCLE project to understand and measure the environmental, social and economic profile of the circular business solutions proposed and, where possible, will try to improve it (activity 2.2), basing of various criteria, priority, contents form and arrangement (including method of delivery) for the provision of the services.
(EN), n/a (FR), n/a (FR), Interreg Alcotra 2014-2020 project “Clip” (EN) | The CCI Var can support the partnership in capitalising on an existing tool which is the "Actif" platform (https://actif-cci.fr/), a Franco-Italian circular economy platform, used by the chambers of commerce since its creation during the Alcotra project Clip. This platform makes it possible to stimulate and organise exchanges between companies, resources and flows in different forms: materials, energy or even skills, on a territorial scale. It will be the ideal tool to create synergies but above all to establish good practices among companies.
ACTIF, created with the support of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, is an interactive platform. It geolocates the resources identified in a territory, detects possible synergies and ensures their follow-up. Moreover, the latest version is accessible to companies to allow them to directly exchange their excess flows.
(EN), n/a (FR), n/a (FR), OECD Checklist for Action for transitioning to the circular economy (EN) | n/a (FR), CircleMED will also make use of the OECD Checklist for Action for transitioning to the circular economy (“The Circular Economy in Cities and Regions”, OECD 2020). The Checklist aims to support decision-makers in promoting, facilitating and enabling the transition to the circular economy. The Checklist is accompanied by a Scoreboard on the Governance of the Circular Economy, a tool for cities and regions to self-assess the existence and functioning of enabling conditions for circular economy policies, initiatives, strategies and programmes. The two OECD tools are built on the assumption that cities and regions hold core competencies for most policy areas underlying the circular economy. This includes water, solid waste, build environment, land use or climate change. Cities and regions can approve land use planning and policies, including zoning, redevelopment and regeneration, encourage farmers’ markets and commercial urban food production, develop climate adaptation plans, support targeted innovation and research, etc. CircleMED partners will apply the checklist and the toolkit in Activity 3.1 and 3.2 (EN), The Circular City Centre (C3) within the European Investment Bank (EN), n/a (FR) | n/a (FR), The Circular City Centre (C3) is a competence and resource centre within the European Investment Bank, which aims to support EU cities in their circular economy transition. We do this by:
- Sharing resources and practical information to support city-level circular action
- Providing circular city advisory to support cities in their circular transition
- Raising awareness about relevant advisory and funding opportunities for circular projects
The C3 can help cities address many of the linear problems they struggle with today, and make their cities more regenerative, resilient, clean, liveable and attractive to both citizens and companies.
The Centre has been established with the support of the European Commission through the European Investment Advisory Hub to advance circular action in cities, including facilitating access to advisory and financing for circular projects.
CircleMED project intends to leverage its activity 1.4, the innovative inclusive governance approaches on citizens’ participation, on documents produced by the Circular Cities Centre, to set-up the Output 1, the Guidelines for local public support and citizens’ participation.
(EN), n/a (FR), Circular cities and regions initiative (EN) | The “Circular cities and regions initiative” is part of the new EU circular economy action plan. It will implement circular solutions at local and regional scale and help deliver on the European Green Deal and the EU bioeconomy strategy. CCRI will ensure a wider dissemination among policy-makers and stakeholders not involved in CircleMED project, reaching direct and indirect target groups relevant for the project’s themes and objectives.
Themore, CTA has been selected as CCRI Fellow of this initiative where support will be received to fully deploy circular economy in Andalusia by boosting industrial symbiosis among private companies in the region. Lessons learned, best practices and strategies will be used by CTA when carrying out Act. 3.4 Valorisation of local and transnational circular economy approach.
(EN), n/a (FR), EC BBI JU funded
BIOSWITCH (BBI-2019-SO4-S1), 2020-2022
(EN), n/a (FR) | n/a (FR), BIOSWITCH main aim is to support brand owners to switching to bio-based approaches by following a holistic, systemic approach built on two pillars: (1) a framework where brand owners are placed as the centre of the public administration-bio-based industry-consumers triangle; and (2) the BIOSWITCH toolbox as the ultimate instrument that will assist them in the bio-based transition journey. In this project, consumers, barriers and expectations were assessed through survey and interviews, being this output linked to CircleMED Act 1.1. Moreover, several tools were developed and validated, following a similar approach as proposed in A2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 so lessons learned will be capitalized. (EN), EC BBI JU funded
ICT-BIOCHAIN (H2020-BBI- JTI-2017), 2018-2020
(EN), n/a (FR) | n/a (FR), It intends to: Establish multi-actor digital innovation hubs for biomass supply chains; Produce a feedstock-specific data base of best practice and new opportunities where digitisation could improve the efficiency of biomass supply chains within MDRs; Establish a user-friendly online platform to allow for wider exploitation of ICT, IoT and Industry 4.0 tools for improving supply chain efficiency; Pave the way for replicating digital hubs in other EU bioeconomy regions. Therefore, the knowledge on how to implement regional hubs will be used in A3.5 for setting up hubs on territorial circular economy. (EN), n/a (FR), EC Horizon Europe funded
ROBIN (HORIZON-CL6-2021-GOVERNANCE-01), 2022-2025
(EN) | ROBIN will establish and demonstrate the potential of innovative circular bioeconomy governance structures and models in 5 European Regions within Ireland, Germany, Spain, Slovakia and Greece. Multi-Actor Regional Constellations will be set up, engaging key quadruple helix stakeholders to co-create and work alongside novel governance structures, well-embedded within existing regional structures. Different tools will be developed and validated by the regions. Learnings from this project regarding governance model and how to involve the different stakeholders will be used for Act 1.4 Innovative inclusive governance approaches on citizens’ participation. (EN), n/a (FR), n/a (FR), INTERREG IPA CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME GREECE –ALBANIA- 2014-2020
Project WASTE RREACT
(EN) | WASTE RREACT approaches low recycling rates in Greece and almost zero in Albania with the implementation of different facilities/activities in 7 Regions allowing direct comparison of the effects of each measure. These will be enhanced by a wide environmental awareness campaign addressing both citizens and schools, the production of technical guidelines/plans and the operation of an online waste monitoring platform for sharing information and strengthening cross-border co-operation.
The main outcomes include a number of new and innovative schemes, such as the composting plant of source- separated biowaste, green points which are a totally new concept for the participating countries, recycling at schools, etc. In addition, the monitoring platform is an innovative element, taking into account that there is no such monitoring mechanism in the participating countries. Integrated waste management can be thus demonstrated through different case-studies for recycling, green points, composting, etc.
These activities and outputs will be integrated in the methodology for the provision of activities 1.1 and 1.2 of CircleMED project, engaging citizens understanding how they relate to circular, collaborative and sharing economy to build knowledge and methods for this, and for the development of output 1, local public support guidelines, developing measures to engage and incentivise citizens and to build consumer acceptance for reduce, reuse, repair and recycle choices, also containing participatory schemes to promote circular socio-economic practices.
The monitoring platform of WASTE RREACT could be also a bese to develop the Hubs on territorial circular economy, activity 3.5 and output 3 of CircleMED, which gathers circular initiatives and monitors the activities in relation to the implementation of circular practices on the different territories involved.
(EN), n/a (FR), n/a (FR), Research Infrastructure Psy’N’Co, financed under the Piemonte Region R.O.P.-E.R.D.F. 2014/2020 (EN) | Psy’N’Co, a research infrastructure in psychology and cognitive science fits within the ERC Social sciences and humanities (SSH) and allows, for those who develop new products and services aimed at users or consumers, to base ideation, design, prototyping and testing on scientific data and analysis on usability that are difficult to access in traditional settings. The potential of this infrastructure is fully usable even by non-experts thanks to the team of researchers from the University of Turin that provides skills and multidisciplinary and diverse skills, such as to be of all-around support.
Psy’N’Co enables researchers and businesses to conduct analyses of human behaviours, and this will facilitate the analysis of social and behavioural drivers and incentives for consumers and citizens for systemic transition to circular economy performed by CircleMED project in its activity 1.1. The complementarity of skills involved offers the possibility of envisaging a wide-ranging of tests, adopting a multidisciplinary approach to the study of functional processes associated with human choice and behavior, exploring also expectations, perceived myths and risks propension.
(EN), n/a (FR)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 854 529.80

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 483 623.84

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 80.00%

Co-financing sources:

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

n/a
Report on behavioural barriers for consumers and citizens
.
Guidelines for local public support and citizens’ participation
Report on the assessment of tools for enterprises
n/a
Circular assessment tool for enterprises
.
n/a
Checklist for Action for cities and regions transitioning to the circular economy
Capitalisation plan for circular sustainability
n/a
Methodology to set-up the Hubs on territorial circular economy
n/a

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EuropeanGreenDeal Project CircleMED is totally aligned with the main objectives of the European Green Deal, which will transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. In this sense, circular economy is considered as one of the main asset to reach these objectives, and the Green Deal will make consistent use of all policy levers: regulation and standardisation, investment and innovation, national reforms, dialogue with social partners and international cooperation (EU COM(2019) 640 final).
Considering our project, it has a positive direct impact on all the above mentioned aspects, through the local communities’ engagement, the development of tools for enterprises, the dialogue with the public administration and the overall systemic approach which will have a strong connection with investments and innovations, and the set-up of framework conditions for cross-sectorial and multi-stakeholder connections.
All the three outputs of the project are going in the same direction of an effective positive contribution of the EU Green Deal: output 1, with its strategic lines of local public support to engage and incentivise citizens and build consumer acceptance for reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling; output 2, the on-line assessment tool to analyse the effective circularity of enterprises’ business; and output 3, the network Network of hubs Hubs with the objective to support the territorial deployment of the circular economy and to scale-up innovative circular solutions.
TerritorialAgenda2030 Regarding the Territorial Agenda 2030, circular economy is considered one of the territorial priorities for Europe, and the approach of CircleMED project supporting citizens’ involvement and policy makers’ engagement is cross-cutting among the different priorities, stated that the Territorial Agenda 2030 will concentrate its efforts on strengthening awareness and empowering local and regional communities to protect, rehabilitate, utilize and reutilize their (built) environments, landscapes, material and immaterial cultural assets and other unique values.
The more, about just transition, the Territorial Agenda 2030 stated that its goal is to ensure that the path to a climate-neutral takes place in an equitable manner, leaving no one and no place, and provides a high quality of life for all. To this aim, CircleMED carries out systemic solutions with a strong emphasis on the key elements of sustainable development: economic prosperity, environmental protection and social equity, balancing these three dimensions in order to benefit current and future generations. This will be realised by adopting a citizen science approach, and co-designing and implementing public contribution with a strong support to the local government and from it cascading onto civil society, boosting territorial economies and creating jobs. In this sense, the project has a direct impact on the first of the two overarching objectives, a Just Europe.
About the second of the two objectives, a Green
Europe, supporting Europe’s transition to a circular economy, aiming CircleMED to boost the transition of the local civil and institutional systems to a local circular economy, the entire project, with its output and result, will contribute to the achievement of this goal.
EUStrategyAdriaticIonianRegion The strategy EUSAIR has an indirect contribution from CircleMED project. In its pillar 3, where specific objectives are (i) to ensure a good environmental and ecological status of the marine and coastal environment, (ii) to contribute to the goal of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services and (iii) to improve waste management, CircleMED, addressing circular economy, can provide input and approach with a specific view on the needs of local public authorities, research and academia, industries, and citizens.
About the pillar 4, the action dedicated to sustainable tourism R&D platform on new products and services can benefit from the new business opportunities in environmental technology through the network of hubs settled by the CircleMED project as its third output, conceived as dialogue platforms analysing the main topics related to circular economy and as a base for the transfer of strategies and solutions developed and tested during CircleMED project for the development of circular practices and cooperation patterns among 4 helix stakeholders.
EUStrategyAlpineRegion CircleMED will directly contribute to the objective 1, “Fostering sustainable growth and promoting innovation in the Alps”, and to Action Group 2 ("To increase the economic potential of strategic sectors") aiming at identifying key Alpine economic sectors which would benefit from action at macro-regional level, and to implement concrete measures to improve their economic and social environment, through the development of tools for citizens (conceived as potential entrepreneurs), public administrations and enterprises which will have a strong connection with investments and innovations, as outcome of WP 1 and 2.
Regarding the overall mission of Action Group 6 of EUSALP („To preserve and valorise natural resources, including water and cultural resources“), which aim is to provide valuable contributions to an Alpine strategic framework that allows the establishment of sustainable and balanced models of resource management and production, CircleMED will again directly contribute through the strategic lines of local public support to engage and incentivise citizens and build consumer acceptance for reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling (output 1) and through the assessment of the environmental impact of the circular economy on the territories that will be done by the different hubs.
Other As other wider strategies and policies addressed by the CircleMED project, the WESTMED initiative to increase maritime safety and security, promote sustainable blue growth and jobs, and preserve ecosystems and biodiversity can also be positively impacted. Since the methodologies and strategies developed by CircleMED will be easily adaptable to any kind of territory (coastal and maritime zones, islands, hinterland areas, mountainous, urban and rural areas), the whole Mediterranean area, as designed by the Interreg EuroMED Programme, will benefit from solutions triggering public and private sources of financing, action plans promoting circular economy actions and integrating sustainable production and consumption models, as addressed by the WESTMED initiative in Its 4th priority „Sustainable consumption and production“.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 001 - Enterprises supported (of which: micro, small, medium, large), Measurement unit:
RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Programme Result Indicator:

RCR90N Long-term cross-border innovation networks, Measurement unit: Number of networks
PSI1 - Organisations with increased institutional capacity due to their participation in cooperation activities across borders, Measurement unit: organisations

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSALP

EUSALP Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSALP Degree of compliance:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSAIR

EUSAIR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSAIR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B EURO Mediterranean (EURO MED)

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-05-27

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

64 / 64 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

608 / 608 (100%)

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Testing Circular Economy solutions for the green transition of the Mediterranean area

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Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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